UPDATE: Top Shop Doughnuts confirmed it will open on Wednesday, May 21, at 6:30 am.

---

With the bakers trained and the La Marzocco espresso machine installed, Seattle-based Top Pot Doughnuts is days away from opening its first branch outside of its home state: in North Dallas.

Staff at the Dallas location confirmed that the shop would open this week. "Wednesday, maybe?" said one manager at the store on Sunday. "We don't know for sure, but we hope it'll be Wednesday. We had some construction delays, but we feel cautiously optimistic."

​One of Top Pot's goals is to expand is its coffee operation, and that can be seen in the prominently placed La Marzocco machine.

The shop is going into the space previously occupied by Elevation Burger, which closed in August 2013. Top Pot has retained Elevation's white tile, but the space is now more open and brighter. A large chalkboard-style menu lists the espresso drinks. Doughnut varieties will rotate in and out.

Brothers Mark and Michael Klebeck co-founded Top Pot in 2002. The chain currently has 16 branches around Seattle. They popularized the "old fashioned" cake doughnut which has a chunky, broken appearance and longer shelf life than raised doughnuts. They get major points for spelling doughnuts properly, i.e., "doughnuts," instead of the abbreviated (but increasingly common) "donuts."

One of Top Pot's goals is to expand is its coffee operation, and that can be seen in the prominently placed La Marzocco machine, as well as the menu of drinks, which includes espresso and espresso drinks, drip coffee, chai tea, cold-brew coffee, and a latte made with Ovaltine. There are juices and smoothies. The menu lists pastries and sandwiches as categories, but both are marked as "coming soon."

The doughnuts fall into four price groups, marked by color: from $1.29 to $2.79. A half-dozen is $12.99; a dozen is $19.99. Old-fashioned varieties come in flavors such as plain, glazed, raspberry, with chocolate icing, with maple icing, sugared and a seasonal pumpkin flavor. Filled doughnut offerings include raspberry, lemon and Bavarian cream. The signature is the "feather boa," topped with icing and coconut.

The hours currently posted on the door are Monday-Friday, 7 am to 8 pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 7 am to 7 pm.